The Occasional Observer

Good luck and God Bless, Avery.

...and definitely not my theory as to what CE has been doing since going AWOL.

Anyone know his whereabouts?

53 Seconds...

The Cato Institute's blog posted an article titled "NATO: An Alliance Past Its Prime".  I thought, "sh*t you say." NATO comprise our best alliances.  Being the skeptical, but open-minded person I am, I read the article anyway.  It turns out the author makes some very good arguments.  We need more leaders that evaluate our diplomatic and military commitments this soberly.

Guilty until proven inncoent?

Happy 64th Birthday!

ht: Drudge

So called educators and their handling of children with special needs in upscale suburb of Cherry Hill, NJ.

in the house of climate change alarmism.  The guy who came up with the whole Gaia thing now says he was an alarmist.  I give him a lot of credit for admitting he was wrong.  If only there wasn't so much to lose for those who make a living at this, more would be willing to be honest.

A great song. I hesitate to post it here, b/c it might trigger flashbacks for Beetz and one particularly memorable nightmare he had. But with it's goodness and thematically appropriate video, I've got to go ahead...

Think this might have been useful information when the Senate was vetting Justice Kagan for the Court? Assuming things like character and integrity are useful for a Justice.

With a view count over 66.5 Million, I'm guessing some of you have probably seen this already.

Still, one of the coolest nature videos I've ever seen:

ht: Duke Blue Crazies

Holocaust rememberance day siren.

Fantastic point on tax policy here.

I feel a little like Yogurt w/ that post title.  "Coming soon: Hunger Games, the Breakfast Cereal!  Hunger Games, the Baby Outfit!  Hunger Games, the Toilet Paper!   Moichandizing, Moichandizing!"

Anyway, on a great new Duke board I've been posting on, Duke Blue Crazies, one of the posters asked if the movie was true to the books.  It was a good as reason as any for me to give my "review" of the film, which is based on my favorite book of recent years.  Check it out below the fold:

Here's a link to the transcript of the entire interview.  Here's the part I heard Rush discussing today.  Bold emphasis is my own.

Here's the money quote from Mitt:  "...It is my attempt NOT to reduce the burden paid by the top earners but instead to maintain it at its current level to bring the [marginal] rates down."

When you consider that the top 1% of wage earners pay ~39% of the treasury's total tax receipts, and Mitt thinks that number is too low, you realize this is pandering, lukewarm class-envy politics.

Triangulating between supply side growth policies and #OWS madness.  Way to go, Mitt.

Pertinent sections of the transcript are quoted below the fold.

My veep selection is below the fold.  I was going to post it is a comment but it was too long and Blogger wouldn't allow it.  So click to see my choice below the fold.  Just make sure you read the post "Veepstakes '12", and make your choice first before reviewing mine...

OK, contributors, round 2 of Fredo's Mad Money. As in '08, it is the veepstakes. I have no idea how we played it back then, but I'm going to go with a new set of rules this time around.

WaPo has a list up of 10 potential GOP veeps. The 11th option will be the field.

-Each person gets 1 pick.
-Each person also gets 1 date, the date that Mitt and his veep make their first joint appearance as a ticket.

You win if you pick the right person. If multiple people choose the right person, the date is the tiebreak.  Winner gets a hearty handshake, attaboys, and also bought dinner by the losers at a time we can get everyone together.

Without further ado, here are your options (ranked in order of likelihood, per WaPo's estimation):

1. Marco Rubio (Sen, FL)
2. Bob McDonnell (Gov, VA)
3. Rob Portman (Sen, OH)
4. Bobby Jindal (Gov, LA)
5. Susanna Martinez (Gov, NM)
6. Chris Christie (Gov, NJ)
7. John Thune (Sen, SD)
8. Tim Pawlenty (Fmr Gov, MN)
9. Mitch Daniels (Gov, IN)
10. Paul Ryan (Rep, WI)
11. The Field (i.e., anyone else)

Please make your selection before clicking on "comment" so that you're not trying to game the people that were more timely than you in their replies.

Tyrone Potter B's.

In case you're living under a rock and didn't know.

This is the best reaction I've seen though.

But more libertarian.  The more I read about politics, the more jaded I become.  Whether you have a D or R next to your name, as a politician, you just play the game.  All such games degrade over time as winning strategies are determined and refined, and losing strategies abandoned.  The rules are perverted and changed to exaggerate the effectiveness of the winning strategies, and the game becomes a kabuki show.

The win scenario for almost all politicians is more power, money and longevity of both.  The winning strategies of left and right have degraded into tactics to smear the other side, reward allies and contributors with government largess.  Legislators are the worst.  The feel they need to pass new laws to prove they're doing something when we already have far too many, where many overlap, contradict or supersede existing ones.  This just ends in more ineffective and wasteful government.

The only thing I want to see coming out of Washington in the next decade is stripping back the federal government.  I realize the chance of this happening is near nil, but I won't give up hope yet.  There are a couple of interesting movements happening that give the slightest glimmer of hope.  The Free State Project (new Hampshire) and Free State Wyoming.  They probably won't go far, but their existence would make me want to move and participate if I were to move.

At this point, I think I'm going to vote for Ron Paul over Mitt Romney in the NY primary.  The net positive result of libertarianism would outweigh the net negative IMHO.  I've come around to a degree on his foreign policy.  War should be the absolute last step in foreign affairs.  Our citizens lives are sacred (and all life for that matter).  Our country needs to focus our resources at home - people securing our borders and money climbing our way out of 100% debt/GDP.

I'm also coming around on stopping other wasted government spending and legislation.  If two dudes want to get married, what do I care?  Just don't bother me about it.  If you and your friends want to get stoned in your house, fine.  Don't cause any trouble.  Leave me alone and I'll leave you alone.  Stop taxing the crap out of me and spending it on stuff I don't care about.

To sum up:

GET OFF MY LAWN!

Hey, it worked for health care.

Link:

Campus police pepper-sprayed as many as 30 demonstrators after Santa Monica College students angry over a plan to offer high-priced courses tried to push their way into a trustees meeting, authorities said. 

Raw video posted on the Internet Tuesday evening showed students chanting "Let us in, let us in" and "No cuts, no fees, education should be free." 

Students were angry because only a handful were allowed into the meeting, and when their request to move the meeting to a larger venue was denied, they began to enter the room, said David Steinman, an environmental advocate who is running for Congress as a Green Party candidate.

My wife told me to look at things from a woman's point of view ...

I looked out the kitchen window.